The people have not yet felt the full impact of the crisis in our economy.

[kentuck]

It is now over 42 million people that have lost their jobs and filed for unemployment. Some of them probably had a little savings and a 401K plan. Some are getting their unemployment, plus the $600 per week stimulus for the unemployed. These folks have likely not felt a lot of pain thus far.

I'm sure that there are many that are having some difficulty getting their unemployment checks. They have been held up, or delayed for some reason, or outright denied? These folks are the ones we are likely to see in the food lines.

But the $600 per week stimulus is scheduled to end in July. People will then go back to work or they may not have a job to return to. That is when the economics of this depression will begin to be felt, in my opinion.

But, this is not the only crisis that we have to worry about. People are still dying by the thousands from the COVID-19. Hopefully, the summer will be hot and dry enough to dry up most of the virus? (If indeed the weather has any impact on the virus) It is still an unknown, whether or not we may get another huge surge, like that in NYC.

If that were all, that would be enough to challenge any society. But we have another crisis, also. We have a crisis in leadership, just as Leon Panetta, former Defense Secretary, warned on the Andrea Mitchell television show earlier today.

Of all the crises, the lack of leadership may be the most critical. America has no leadership coming from this White House. That is the reality we are burdened with.

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. AND no good fuckers AND no good fuckers AND no good fuckers

Moscow Mitch and the GOP sit on the bill that would help Americans who have no money, no food, cant pay the rent.

FUCKERS, every single one of you!

ENEMIES of the human race

[Scarsdale]

11. Yes, but

Lindsey Graham and others are busy, trying to find dirt on ANYONE from the Obama administration. Hey, Lindsey, next time you visit your good buddy tRump, look around and you will find plenty of people who warrant an investigation. Pomp-ASS Pompeo, tRump, Kushner, little Mikey Pence's aide for starters. You are wasting taxpayer money on a nothing-burger. Oh, well, it isn't as though you and the gop deadwood have anything constructive to do, right? Have you booked the Sunday shows, to spout your lies?

[H2O Man]

2. Recommended.

That is such a huge point. Absolutely.

Our society is at a crossroads: we either undergo the revolution in values that Dr. King spoke of, or the US ceases to exist as a democratic republic.

[empedocles]

6. Several very powerful forces; the economy, the virus, American democracy - all

at stake.

[H2O Man]

8. Exactly.

[kentuck]

9. We are handicapped in that we can only look at history in the rear view mirror...

We may be at the beginning of the Second American Revolution? We just don't know.

[empedocles]

10. A crisis greater than we now know, trump always gets worse, yet

there may be awesome opportunities - starting before November even.

[There are 1000's of quotes available on this crisis/opportunity 'thing'].

[MoonlitKnight]

3. The pain will last at least a decade

Retirement savings used now that won’t be there later.
Older workers not rehired.
A huge change in the economic structure.

[CountAllVotes]

4. I just got a notice saying my crappy pension may be cut

I only get $100 being so I figure even a 10% wouldn't much matter to me.

However, it may affect others more than me but I rather doubt it being I get next to nothing anyway.

A hard rain's gonna fall.

And where's the fucking union? I am paying dues.

[ProfessorGAC]

14. Damn!

There's no reason for that. There's absolutely no valid economic reason pension funds would be in jeopardy.
Markets are still up 35% from 4 years ago. So, they yielded 9% per year instead of the 12% under Obama. It's still a 9% gain.
If the pensions aren't increasing (and how often are pension structured like that?), then the annuity cash must have been organized around an unrealistic yearly gain. That seems close to breaching fiduciary duty.
You're getting cheated.

[CountAllVotes]

16. I got cheated the day they dumped me

I was far too sick to fight them, the Union failed to step in and I got $49 a month.

Now it is almost $100 a month but yeah, I got cheated alright.

I worked for 20+ years full-time and get less than many get on SSI/SSA/food stamp, etc. combos.

Makes me sick to my stomach to just think about it.

The place has the money in the stock market and the people they've had handling the $ are a couple of frauds (woman w/no degree claiming she has one earning $375,000 yr. and this other "new" guy and CEO -- how much he earns I do not know).

But yep, they gotta hit me, the lowest on the ladder.

Female
Disabled
2 college degrees = no one cares.



Makes me hate myself as I failed. Completely.

Who can fight while blind? Who?

[ProfessorGAC]

18. My Sympathies

I can't really relate. I've had MS for 25 years, but the effect on life is near zero.
I retired very comfortable.
I can't imagine how you feel and won't presume to tell you I can.
Take care of yourself.

[CountAllVotes]

20. The people I worked with are all dead now or sick as hell

I'm winning! yeah!

[Skittles]

30. we care

and how exactly did you fail? repuke policies have failed us all

[Hortensis]

15. "A hard rain's gonna fall." Yes. Glad it won't hurt you at least. nt

[CountAllVotes]

17. This is just what I know so far

There may be a lot more to it, I don't know yet.

They don't know either it seems to me.

[Hortensis]

21. Yes. Everything's always far more complex than we realize.

I'm sure "they" don't know. Responsible competence is not exactly their strong point, but winning is the RW powers' big goal and once in control they'd make sure they made out fine.

I wonder, are the unprecedented demonstrations of a very engaged citizenry peacefully assembling to address grievances, and represented in polls, dismaying those who plan to overset our democracy. Is this reaction more of a problem than anticipated? Or do they expect national destabilization and theft of these elections to proceed as planned in spite of it?

[CountAllVotes]

22. They will use it as an excuse

It will likely work out just fine for them.

Don't bother asking abt. the woman with the $375,000 yr. salary and no college degree or the guy they hired last year.

Don't you dare ask!

They lost a load of $ year before last too.

As a retired bookkeeper, I looked at their "investments". A lot of it was in overseas real estate of all things and they wonder why they lost so much?

The big losses this year have been in Chinese stocks.

I gave them a piece of my mind and told them that the retirees and the people's monies belong in SAFE investments, not something so volatile as overseas real estate and China!!

I tried but just like before, I was ignored. No wonder they got rid of me eh?

Now we all must pay the price for their greed, their stupidity and their lies?

[Hortensis]

23. Yes, they are and will. It's not over until we find out if

we are still sovereign, though. And not then for those who would refuse to accept it.

As for your parting, at least it took a far more responsible form than most, and hopefully that gives you real satisfaction. Most of us do our jobs quietly until informed we're gone -- after the fact -- and don't even get a real chance to ask why.

[aquamarina]

5. We are Currently protesting racial injustice

Maybe our next round of protests should be on economic injustice. Maybe right in front of Moscow’s and all the other repute senators houses.

[JustGene]

7. Yes

The racial injustice is, in part, reinforced by the economic injustice.
The top end needs to take the bite for this one to save the economy.
Then we fix the system.
Eat The Rich.

[bucolic_frolic]

12. I think there are nonrecurring expenditures for households

Every household suddenly stocked their larder. Stocked like never before. Store shelves were thin, but are returning to half-stock position. Once home cooking stabilizes, grocery purchases will return to more stable and normal levels.

Every household bought a laptop, or at least many did. By March 18 electronics stores were in short supply. By May 1 used pc's online were almost double the January price. That is starting to slow too. If you want a laptop with a HDD and a DVD burner - good luck.

I think the stim distribution was sad. $600 per week plus unemployment? While poor households got $1200, once? And corporations got loans to cover payroll? We fed money up the income scale again. No wonder it will all fall flat.

[CountAllVotes]

19. I bought a used one on ebay for $180

Once I got it up and running it is a gem.

A Lenovo Thinkpad w/a CD/DVD on it.

A W530 is the model of it.

Suggest you do the same as not every one can afford a spanking new laptop and I really don't want one as one with a built-in CD/DVD player no longer exists unless you like having to buy one and then buy more to go with it (extended CD/DVD drive for another couple of hundred bucks). Sucks! No thanks!

[ProfessorGAC]

13. I'd Say Some People Have

How it affects the majority is TBD.
But, there are a few million people who have gotten pounded at this point.

[JmAln]

24. How are state and local government budgets doing?

If layoffs of state and local government employees accelerate because of lack of revenue from taxes, we'll see an increasing downward spiral of the economy. And it appears the GOP isn't interested in helping the states out.

[DENVERPOPS]

25. Thank you Kentuck

I think we Ain't seen nothing yet.......

[kentuck]

26. I fear you are correct.

We have not seen the bottom from this White House.

[Initech]

32. Well Trump is hiding in a bunker and there's danger coming at him from every angle.

Almost kind of like he's in one of those Homescape / Gardenscape / Township / Fishdom games. Save him!!!

[Crowman2009]

27. The summer weather will not affect this COVID-19 virus.

Take Brazil for example, they have hot weather all year long and that virus has yet to dissipate.

[kentuck]

28. June is their coolest month...

I have read.

[captain queeg]

29. But the stock market is booming, that's all the rethugs care about.

[gulliver]

31. I'd expect continued support for out-of-work people through the election.

And beyond it only if the Dems clean up. If Republicans have any power at all they'll either try to crack the whip on people with austerity or, as they did when Obama was president, sabotage Dem attempts to heal the country.

The way we are handling covid-19 is the way we should have handled the Great Recession. (We would have if Republicans had not been left in a position to sabotage and block.) Give businesses forgivable loans to keep paying their workers. Put money in people's pockets so they have the basics completely covered. That keeps people more secure and keeps workers on the payroll while the crisis sorts itself out. It buys time and lets people adapt and recover.

If one member of a family loses their job, the other members take over expenses for a while. We're sort of doing that with our economy right now. I think that's the absolute best thing we could do.

[Wounded Bear]

33. Dems managed to stave off the worst of it so far...

But Repubs are reverting back to form. They seem to desperately want another Great Depression.

I've never gotten over the feeling that many RWers were disappointed that '08 was only a Great Recession and that they had really wanted GD ver 2.0.